Bill Chappell

Bill Chappell is a writer and producer on the Newsdesk, in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.

Chappell's work at NPR has ranged from being the site's first full-time homepage editor to being the lead writer and editor for online coverage of several Olympic Games, from London 2012 to Pyeongchang 2018. His assignments have included being the lead web producer for NPR's trip to Asia's Grand Trunk Road, as well as establishing the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps on NPR.org.

In the past, Chappell has edited and coordinated digital features for Morning Edition and Fresh Air, in addition to editing the rundown of All Things Considered. He frequently contributes to other NPR blogs, such as All Tech Considered and The Salt.

In 2009, Chappell was a key editorial member of the small team that redesigned NPR's web site. One year later, NPR.org won its first Peabody Award, along with the National Press Foundation's Excellence in Online Journalism award.

At NPR, Chappell has trained both digital and radio staff to use digital tools to tell compelling stories, in addition to "evangelizing" — promoting more collaboration between legacy and digital departments.

Prior to joining NPR, Chappell was part of the Assignment Desk at CNN International, handling coverage in areas from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, and coordinating CNN's pool coverage on major events.

Chappell's work for CNN included editing digital video and producing web stories for SI.com. He also edited and produced stories for CNN.com's features division.

Before joining CNN, Chappell wrote about movies, restaurants and music for alternative weeklies, in addition to his first job: editing the police blotter.

A holder of bachelor's degrees in English and History from the University of Georgia, Chappell attended graduate school for English Literature at the University of South Carolina.

The Supreme Court has refused to take up a billionaire's appeal of a lower court ruling that forced him to maintain public access to surfers and others who visit Martins Beach, a scenic spot near Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

The case had been shaping up to be a showdown over California's Coastal Act, with possible ramifications for other states with laws to preserve public access to beaches. Advocates for public access are hailing the court's decision to decline the case as a victory. The Supreme Court declined the case on Monday, the first day of its new session.

A Swedish court has found Jean-Claude Arnault — the man at the center of a sex-abuse scandal that forced this year's Nobel Prize in literature to be postponed — guilty of rape, sentencing him to two years in prison.

At least 18 women have come forward with assault claims against Arnault, 72, a photographer who is entrenched in the highest levels of Sweden's arts scene. He was found guilty of raping a woman on Oct. 5-6, 2011, but he was acquitted of the same charge for an incident that took place two months later.

Emergency crews are still trying to find victims of an earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia's island of Sulawesi, killing at least 1,200 people, according to local media citing government officials.

The death toll could rise even higher, officials warn, as workers clear debris, rubble and vehicles that were swept away by a massive wave of seawater on Friday.

Pope Francis has defrocked notorious Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, making what the Vatican calls an "exceptional" decision based on his own conscience and concern for the good of the Catholic Church. Karadima has been the face of the church's sexual abuse scandal in Chile.

At least 384 people were killed and at least 540 injured Friday after powerful earthquakes struck along the western coast of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, triggering a tsunami that caused "extensive" damage.

"When the [tsunami] threat arose yesterday, people were still doing their activities on the beach and did not immediately run and they became victims," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for BNPB, Indonesia's disaster response agency, told reporters in Jakarta, Reuters reported.

Eric Reid, a Pro Bowl safety who has said he was punished for kneeling with Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem, has signed a deal with the Carolina Panthers, ending his hiatus from the NFL.

Reid, 26, was a starter during the five years he played for the San Francisco 49ers. But no one signed him after his contract expired at the end of last season. The new contract with the Panthers is a one-year deal.

Uber is paying $148 million to settle claims over the ride-hailing company's cover-up of a data breach in 2016, when hackers stole personal information of some 25 million customers and drivers in the U.S.

President Trump accused China of trying to interfere in upcoming U.S. midterm elections because of the hard line he has taken on trade, airing the claim as he opened Wednesday's meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York.

San Francisco officials have temporarily shut down the city's huge new transit center after a crack was spotted in a steel beam in the ceiling. Structural engineers are now inspecting all the beams in the Salesforce Transit Center — which opened just a month ago, at a cost of more than $2.1 billion.

The crack was discovered early Tuesday, but the shutdown wasn't ordered until hours later, forcing more than 30 bus lines to be redirected as the afternoon rush hour began. A key underpass along the side of the building was also closed, snarling area traffic.

Twenty-seven years after testifying that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her, Anita Hill says she believes the upcoming hearing on an alleged sexual assault by the current nominee "cannot be fair and thorough."